I received a question about which domain to buy and the differences in the TLD, top level domain. TLDs are your .com, .net, .co, .biz, .org, .xxx, .tv,… etc. Today there are just so many to choose from. So what is the difference? Which should you buy?

Clearly the .com is the most widely used and recognized. Originally standing for “commercial”. It was introduced back in 1985. It was introduced along with com, edu, gov, mil, org, & net. Of those domains, edu, gov, and mil have specific requirements/restrictions and are not open for general use. ORG was intended for non-profits, but it has no restrictions for registrations.

Does the TLD effect SEO?

The search engines have stated that they have no real preference to the TLDs. However users do have a preference, in the fact that the users trust some more than others. Therefore, your CTRs will be higher, which in turn would effect your rankings. If I were to list the general use domains by my preference it would be as follows:

.com
.org
.net
.biz

What about the more recent .XXX and .CO?

As I understand the .XXX is that they are pushing for exclusive adult use. Therefore if your site has no adult content then you may be in violation of the terms for that TLD.

The .co’s have a benefit of being shorter, but they have a huge downside for being too similiar to the .com and that they are not yet widely recognized. Put a .co on the side of service truck and the majority of people are bound to think that you simply forgot the ‘m’ for the .com.

.XXX General Registration Opens Today.

The TLD (top level domain) .XXX was created this year in hopes to give adult websites their own location online. While the idea of separating out adult material from the rest of web has it’s appeal, it seems that those buying domains don’t agree. Adult content websites argue that the annual price of $99.99 is unfair. Many in the adult industry don’t want the new TLD. Many businesses don’t want to be forced into buying yet another domain to prevent the abuse of their trademark. At $99.99/year, the price for little online reputation management is pretty steep. And the price of letting someone destroy your name?

Let’s Be Adults About This

Yes, that is really their tag line, hard to keep an adult face when you incite a chuckle with a tagline like that. But they apparently mean business. They only want those that use .XXX domains to offer adult entertainment. So as much as I’d enjoy the spoofs on “Live Naked Bugs”, I don’t think that would fall into the proper use for BUGS.XXX. And as funny as it might be, the domain itself isn’t likely to show up in a “safe search” and simply because of the .xxx TLD will be blocked from Net Nannies.

So despite their tag line, being adult about it seems far from the majority of real life business scenarios. Most companies buy to prevent the abuse that comes from less than adult like activity. Stealing a brand’s good name is anything but adult-like conduct.

And that is your Pest Report. Buy now or forever hold your piece. (<— not a typo)